Mona stuck closely to Ataraxia and Ataraxia made sure to stick closely to her. I watched them and placed my hands in my jacket pockets. I looked at Nagini who was walking ahead, leading the group to the next Pyramid. I fell back beside Liao Ru. She looked at me and smiled.
"What's the matter?" She asked.
"Mona...I want to know more about her and what it means to be a Guardian and what it the Infinity Council stands for truly...Like I was chosen to be a Ruler, but a member of the Infinity Council wasn't on my mind and now I'm a true member...what does all that mean..?" I said then looked at my feet as we walked together.
"In the Old World 12 Guardians were chosen by the Sovereigns to fight against the Overlords and the Fallen. Those Guardians used to be the 12 Strongest Rulers. These Rulers were said to be Original Shinto Deities, but that is wrong as the first Ruler didn't exist until the 8th Century. In year 759 was when Fallan was made a Ruler and in year 763 was when the first Guardian was created." Liao Ru explained.
"Who were the original 12 Guardians?" I asked.
"Their names weren't recorded, but we know what kind of Rulers they were. The Original 12 Guardians were the Rulers of the Skies, Wind, Land, Sea, Life, Virtue, Humanity, Heaven, Hell, Time, Space, and Indomitability. These Guardians rebuilt the Universe after Fallan's Rise. Her power was so great that she was able to defeat them all. Fast forward a few years after the Guardians' defeat in the year of 812, Qiao Zhi stood against Fallan and managed to drive her off. After that he was chosen to be a Guardian, but he wasn't the one who created the Infinity Council." Liao Ru said.
"Who created the Infinity Council?" I asked.
"In the year 1630, Nagini with the help of Olympia created the Infinity Council and back then it only had 10 members who were Qiao Zhi, Olympia, Ataraxia, me, Viktoria, Misao, Nagini, Artemis, Borsu, and Agni. In year 1735, Shi joined. In year 1763, Pryniau joined. In year 1891, Mona joined. In year 2037, Raiden joined." Liao Ru said.
"What does it truly mean to be a Guardian?" I asked.
"To truly be a Guardian means you'll willing to put everything on the line for your universe. Guardians determine the fate of everything and without us, Fallan would've won and the universe would've been in the cold darkness for eternity. We preserve the balance of the universe for an infinity and beyond the infinity. But also with being a Guardian we must know which battles to fight and which battles to sit out on." Liao Ru said.
I nodded and looked at Mona. "What about Mona..? Why did Qiao Zhi kill her parents?"
"He killed them because they were two of the smartest and strongest people in that time. One was a famous inventor who could've advanced human technology ahead of his time and the other could use magic that brings their art to life. When she witnessed them die, an anger awakened in her. She picked up the paintbrush that was on the ground and began to swing it around in the air while having a tantrum and created Vinci. Vinci destroyed the Risen like they were nothing. She surprised me...her power level was already 1,528 as a kid and five years before her death, she was an S Rank just like that. Watching her die was the saddest moment because her last words was 'I wanna be with you all forever'." Liao Ru said then looked at Mona.
I looked at Mona as well and noticed Ataraxia ruffle her hair. Mona held Ataraxia's hand and hugged her arm. "I wanna protect her...she's precious and I'll do anything to make sure she stays alive.."
"She's impressionable, so maybe some of your heroism will rub off on her.." Liao smiled then noticed Nagini stopped walking.
Fallen began to appear and surround us.
"There's more of them than ever.." Ataraxia said then summoned her cross.
"There's gotta be at least 1000 of them here.." Raiden said and summoned her weapon.
"Vinci.." Mona said then her Mecha appeared behind her and let out a mechanical growl.
"Hisumi, let's show them the power of a Valkyria." Liao Ru smiled and summoned her sword.
I nodded and unsheathed my katanas. We bellowed and transformed into our Ruler Forms then looked at the swarm of Fallen.
"This time, you're not winning Guardians!" The Fallen Man said. "The name is Kanton."
The man landed and his hood came off. He had long black hair and glowing orange eyes.
"And I am Malis.." The woman said as she landed. Her hood came off and she had short dark purple hair with blue eyes. "We are the summoners you need to be worried about now, but we decided to bring in an extra guest...Come now Thera!"
A green haired woman emerged from the sand. She had on a white jumpsuit with a black scarf around her neck. She landed on the ground then her eyes shined.
"Another monster." I said.
"Correct. She is the user of Primordial Earth! Thera show her your abilities!" Malis commanded.
Thera's eyes shined and she raised her hand then the gravity of earth began to become heavier, causing me and my allies to grunt. She used the sand to latch onto our feet and held us still.
"We've got three Rulers here...now that they can't move, we can use our Gem Extraction tool to take away their Gems!" Kanton laughed.
Nagini scoffed and smirked.
"What's so damn funny?" Kanton asked and looked at Nagini.
"You honestly think you've won because you have us under your little magic tricks..? Do you know who I am..? You must not if you believe this is enough to take me down. Allow me to show you...my true power.." Nagini said then the Gem inside of her glowed and awakened her Ruler Form. Green and black aura surrounded her body and she laughed like a maniac.
She manipulated the gravity and the sand, freeing us from Thera. Her pupils became snake like and she chuckled coldly.
"Fallen! Strike her down!" Kanton bellowed.
"Nagini!" I called out.
"It's fine, Hisumi." Ataraxia said. "She has Action Empowerment. She's perfectly fine."
"Action Empowerment..? What's that?" I asked.
"She becomes more powerful as long as she's performing a task like blinking or breathing or simply existing. Action Empowerment is the very reason why Nagini is beyond the scales of a Valkyria Ranking System. The only person that could stop her was the Ruler of Death. Nagini is the definition of Infinity." Liao Ru explained.
Nagini began tanking hits from the Fallen as if they were nothing. She laughed and transformed her Cross into its Origin Mode. "Now let me show you my true power...Endless Infinity!"
Her cross floated in the sky and my heart thumped hard as I felt the aura from Nagini. I looked at the cross as it floated in the sky. The cross opened a portal and the size of the portal grew larger and larger until it was the size of the entire sky.
Malis's eyes widened and fell to her knees in despair. "Is power like this...even possible to obtain...This power...seems to rival that of a Sovereign.."
"Don't get it mistaken...I am no Sovereign...I will never reach their level of power as they will always be stronger than even me and the Ruler of Death, but you will learn to understand the power of a Goddess.." Nagini said then snapped her fingers then a beam of light was blasted down to the ground and defeated every last Fallen on the field then a massive explosion happened.
I grunted and covered my face and looked at Nagini. Nagini herself said that the Sovereigns are stronger than her and she will never reach their power and Fallan can seemingly counter her power. This left me wondering how powerful Fallan truly is and Nagini left me stunned as I truly knew the difference between our Ruler Forms. Even if I mastered mine...I will never truly be stronger than her.
The smoke cleared and all who were left was Malis, Kanton, and Thera. I looked at the three of them as they were left astonished. The sky returned to normal and Nagini's Cross floated back behind her. The Gem inside of her stopped glowing and she reverted back to her normal form.
"I leave the rest to you all." Nagini said then closed her eyes.
Ataraxia and Liao Ru dealt with Malis and Kanton, killing them in a matter of seconds. I snapped back to my sensed and hurried over to Thera. Thera looked at me and went for a punch and grunted. I caught her fist and looked at her.
"You have no reason to fight anymore after what you just saw. You have no reason to continue working with Fallan nor Yoshida.." I said.
"Let me go! I can't let Yoshida down! I'll kill all of you!" Thera bellowed.
I looked at her then pulled her to me then punched her stomach. She groaned and passed out. I caught her then Nagini walked to me and pat her back then warped her back to Yahoma. I looked at Nagini then she gently pinched my cheek and smiled.
"Let's go calm Bastet down so she can give us the second key." Nagini said.
I nodded then Nagini began to lead us toward Bastet's pyramid. Once we reached the Pyramid, we walked in and a fragrance took effect on us. I sniffed and followed the fragrance. Everyone looked at me and followed me.
"Hisumi hold up!" Ataraxia said. "It's a trap!"
I stopped then a barrier protected me from an attack. I looked surprised then looked around. I noticed a purple cutting wave headed towards me and I opened a void, causing the cutting wave to enter then opened another void making the cutting wave shoot to the wall.
"Nya nya~ You're cheating with that void trick you did and frankly Nyau hates cheaters!" A woman said then appeared in front of me.
The woman had brown hair with red highlights and it was styled with a fancy braid on the back of her head. Her left eye was gold while her right eye was blue. Her bangs slightly covered her gold eye, but didn't fully cover it enough so we could see her golden eye. She has cat ears and a cat tail. She wore a small black top, basically a black bra, and a black shirt. She wore an assassin's jacket over her stripperiffic clothing. She wore single fingered sleeves that extended to her upper arms. She wore tall black boots with golden details.
"Pryniau." Ataraxia said.
"Show me your power Number I! You were strong enough to take Qiao Zhi's place now are you strong enough for Nyau?!" Pryniau said then dashed towards me.
I glared then dashed towards her. Pryniau was a hand to hand combat person and I was going to match her. I summoned my gauntlets then we punched each other's cheeks. Lightning crackled around my body and I bellowed then sent her flying. I dashed towards her and teleported above her. She looked up at me and dodged my attack then grabbed my arm then threw me to the ground. I landed on one knee and grunted lightly.
"Now I've got you!" Pryniau said then placed her feet on the ceiling then pounced towards me.
I opened my eyes and awakened my Ruler Form then dodged her attack. She looked surprised then I appeared in front of her and punched her stomach and sent her flying backwards then teleported in front of her and kicked her upwards trapping her in my lightning aura. I flipped backwards then gripped my wrist and lightning aura surged around my arm. I dashed towards Pryniau and bellowed.
"Raijin Pierce!" I bellowed then struck her stomach and lightning aura burst from her back.
Pryniau groaned then flew back, crashing into a wall. She groaned and looked in the air. "Little birdies...ehehe..."
I felt my heart thumping as the oni in me began to take control. I bellowed and dashed towards Pryniau and was about to go for the killing blow. Ataraxia appeared beside me and chopped my neck, causing me to pass out and fall. She caught me and looked at me.
"She still has a long way to go before she masters her Ruler Form." Ataraxia said then carried me bridal style.
Pryniau shook her head and snapped back to her senses then looked at us. She stood up and pointed at us. "Nya?! E-Ehh?! Mama Ataraxia?! Doctor Noxius?! Mona Lisa?! Ruru?! Nobunaga?! I thought you all were dead! Didn't Fallan kill us?!"
"Huh? Did Hisumi knock your noggin too hard? We're immortal remember? Well...until the Ruler of Death decides to kill us but still! And on the topic of immortality, have you seen any of the other members?" Nagini asked.
She crossed her arms and tried to scramble her memories for answers she didn't have. "Uhhh...members..? Eeehhh?"
"Hey! Don't act dumb now!" Nagini pointed at Pryniau.
"Don't you remember? I was barely involved with the Infinity Council. I was working at a local fast food restaurant." Pryniau looked at Nagini and tilted her head slightly.
"Wha- Oh...that's right. For someone with a badass nickname like, Feline Prosecutor...you were the most USELESS member! I remember now! How the hell did you even become a Guardian?!" Nagini asked dumbfounded.
"I...actually don't remember. I was only in like three fights the entire time and that was only to open locks and steal important items from our enemies. Soooo....it's hard to say." Pryniau smiled.
Liao Ru, Ataraxia, Raiden, and Mona all looked at each other then back at Nagini and Pryniau.
"Oh yeah! I also took this. I dunno what this is but it's very shiny." Pryniau said and held up a key.
"That's the Key of Bastet! Give me that! That's an important item!" Nagini said then reached for the key.
"Uh-uh! Finders keepers!" Pryniau said as she moved backwards.
"More like you stole that shit! Now give that here!" Nagini bellowed and tried to snatch the key.
Pryniau avoided her. "Either buy it from me or catch me!"
Pryniau said then ran off. She shapeshifted into a cheetah and became faster.
"After her!" Nagini commanded and summoned her floating platform then jumped up and landed on it. The platform transformed into a hoverboard and she chased after Pryniau.
The others chased after Pryniau as well in hopes of getting the key from her. Nagini heard rumbling above them and heard a lioness's roar.
"Dammit and we gotta deal with Bastet as well!" Nagini said.
Liao Ru ran ahead and transformed into her Ruler Form. "I'll handle Bastet! You pursue Pryniau!"
They nodded and bolted off after Pryniau. Liao Ru turned into a phoenix then flew to the top floor and entered Bastet's domain then reverted to her Ruler Form and landed on the ground.
Bastet looked at Liao Ru. Bastet had lightly tanned skin, black hair with a long braid and golden accessories in her hair, and golden eyes. She wore a short blue and gold top and short skirt with the Egyptian Goddess collar and shoulder accessories. She had an ankh tattoo on her left shoulder and it shined. She wore golden claw rings on all ten on her fingers and was barefooted. She had lion ears and a blue and gold tail.
"Where is my damn key?! Are you the one who took it?!" Bastet bellowed.
"No but I am here to calm you down. Your anger is upsetting the people." Liao Ru said.
"Anger..?! Oh you wanna see anger?! I'll show you fucking anger!" Bastet bellowed then dashed towards Liao Ru.
Liao Ru blocked her punch and grunted. She looked up and noticed the moon seeping through the roof of the pyramid. She groaned as she was blasted away by a lunar beam. She grunted as she hit her back on the wall.
"Lunar Manipulation..? When did she learn that..?!" Liao Ru asked and stood up straight. "No matter, I can still take her on!"
Liao Ru lunged herself towards Bastet and bellowed. Bastet pounced forward and their fists clashed with one another. Liao Ru grunted as she felt Bastet growing stronger from the clash.
"What the..? Did she just become stronger off our clash..?" Liao Ru asked then groaned as she was punched in the stomach.
Bastet kicked her away then appeared behind Liao Ru and kneed her back. Liao Ru groaned and her eyes flashed white. Liao Ru was sent crashing into the throne and she slowly stood up and spit out blood. Liao Ru grunted as her flames turned black. She bellowed and her aura surged powerfully. Bastet grunted and looked at Liao Ru. Liao Ru summoned her sword and smirked. She turned the sword into energy then summoned her gauntlets then the energy particles entered her gauntlets empowering them.
Liao Ru's eyes shined red and her hair turned white with black tips. Her red and black aura spiralled around her body. "Now I'll show you the power of the True Black Inferno! Say hello to my Divine Weapon, Final Apocalypse!"
"What the hell..? This woman has turned an entire 180...Is she the Ruler of Inferno..?" Bastet asked and felt a chill crawl down her spine.
No one knew of Liao Ru's true power. Bastet was the first to ever see this nightmarish power Liao Ru hid within her soul. The Ruler of Inferno was not truly called the Ruler of Inferno. The Ruler of Inferno was truly known as the Ruler of Apocalypse.
"This is my true power...I am the Guardian of the End. You will be the first to see my true power! Now take this!" Liao Ru dashed towards Bastet. "Ignis Inferni!"
She bellowed then palmed Bastet's stomach and a powerful flame surrounded Bastet and she yelled in pain. Bastet was blown back into a wall then her aura disappeared and she fell on her knees. Liao Ru looked at Bastet then her eyes shined brightly. She turned normal then groaned and fell to her knees. She panted and her hair turned back to normal.
Nagini grabbed Pryniau's tail. "Gotcha now hand it over furball or I'll unleash a deadly fury upon you that you'll never forget!"
Pryniau mewled loudly and whined then held the key out towards Nagini. "Take it and let me go!" She whined.
Nagini snatched the key out of Pryniau's hand then sighed. "Finally. Two down....ten to go and it seems Liao Ru finished everything she needed to up there. Let's go."
Nagini warped everyone out of the Pyramid and we went back to Ra-to's Pyramid to rest for the night so we could be ready for the morning.